James Potter and the Goblin's Curse
by RosexDoctorForever
Summary: This is the tale of James Potter and his first year at Hogwarts. I do plan on writing the rest of his years as well. This year deals with a goblin professor that seems to have it out for a young troublemaker and his friends.
1. Prologue

James Potter and the Goblin's Curse

"James Magnus Potter!" shouted my mother. "You get down here right now and clean up this mess!"

I could hear my father's laughter from the kitchen. My powers had just started to come in, so it's not as if I could control them! It's not my fault that the cake had exploded when I wished for some. I wouldn't be able to control it until I had started my first year.

Ah, this is what I had been waiting for my whole life. My first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Everyone in my family had gone there- with the exception of my distant French cousin Marie who goes to a different school of magic. In just a few weeks, I would be going there too.

I had never seen my parents so happy when I had received my letter. The instant they got it, we Floo Powdered off to Diagon Alley. They started to make a pile of everything they thought I would need or want while I was in school. Might I add that I had received this letter four months before I was going to be on the train headed towards Hogwarts.

Quickly, I ran downstairs and gave Mum my best smile. She almost always fell for this every time. It's because I'm so good looking, is what everyone tells me. My green eyes stood out underneath the mop of black hair that was sticking up every which way.

"Nice try, James. I'm not gonna fall for that this time. Clean. Now." She tossed me a broom.

"Why don't you get Wilfred to do it?" I asked, referring to the House Elf that we had.

"Because Wilfred is doing the laundry." she said. "Quit procrastinating and clean."

I sighed heavily. "Fine."

An hour and a half later and I was finally done cleaning. This crap had made it's way to the ceiling for crying out loud! The sooner I could control my magic the better. At least I didn't have to re-glue Bathilda Bagshot's ugly vase like I had to do last time. Nothing is every perfect in that old bat's eyes. She made me re-glue it twelve times! If it had been most people, I would have run away without them finding out it had been me. But my parents were good friends with Bathilda so I had to be nice and admit that I had broken it.

"Oh good, you're done. Now go wash up for dinner."


	2. Chapter 1: The Train Ride

Chapter 1: The Train Ride

"Excuse me!" said a large woman, interrupting us on our way to Platform 9 and ¾. "Can you help my son get across? I was just called into the Ministry of Magic."

"Sure, anything for a fellow wizard." Dad said. Always the nice one he is. He has never turned away anyone who has ever asked for help. He turns to the lady's son. "What's your name?"

"Peter. Peter Pettigrew." the boy said. He was a little chubby around the edges. A puff of dirty blonde hair rested at the top of his head. A few freckles were placed around his cheeks and across his nose. Baby blue eyes stared at us nervously.

"Thank you so much. I must be off now." that was all the woman said before leaving.

"Is this your first year, Peter?" I asked as we continued on our way.

"Yes, it is." he says nervously.

"No need to be nervous. I'm James Potter. It's my first year too."

He started to play with his sweater. "I can't help but be nervous. There are so many things to be nervous about. The sorting. Making friends. Classes. Doing well in school."

"Don't worry about making friends. You have me." I said.

Peter's whole face lit up. "Really?"

"Really." I confirmed.

We made our way across the barrier and onto the platform. Now we found ourselves surrounded by fellow classmates and their parents.

I turned to my parents. "I'll see you Christmas holidays."

"Don't be so easy about this!" Mum fussed. "My little boy is growing up." She kissed my check.

I quickly rubbed it off. "Yuck!"

Dad chuckled, ruffling my hair. "Don't get into too much trouble, James. I don't want to be visiting the school during the first week."

"All right, I'll wait till the second week before I get into trouble." I grinned.

This caused my parents to laugh. They pulled me into a hug. With our final good-byes, we headed our separate ways.

Peter and I boarded the train. It was quite a problem finding an empty room to sit in. Everywhere was packed with kids. Finally we found a room that had a tall dark haired boy laying across the seat. I opened the door.

"Leave." the boy ordered.

"I'd rather not." I said. "Come on, Peter. Let's take a seat."

"But he said to leave." Peter said.

"So? That doesn't mean we have to."

"It would be best if you did as I said though." the boy told us.

"Whatever you say." I shrugged, taking a seat on the boy's chest.

The boy pushed me off of him. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Well I was simply sitting down." I grinned cheekily.

"On my chest?"

"It looked comfortable." I say.

"What's your name, kid?"

"James Potter."

The boy grinned. "I like your spunk, Potter. The name's Sirius Black. What year are you?"

"First. So is my friend, Peter Pettigrew." I nodded towards Peter. "You?"

"Same." Sirius said.

Another boy entered. His light brown hair covered his face as he continued to read a book. "Can I sit here?" he asked.

"Sure. As long as you put the book up." Sirius said.

The new kid closed the book. "Okay. I've already read it a hundred times. I'm Remus Lupin."

"Hello, Remus. I'm Sirius, that's James and Peter." he introduced us. "Ignore James, he's a bit nuts."

I elbowed Sirius in the chest. "Don't go barking up that tree!"

"Oh I think I am!" Sirius grinned.

Just then two more people joined our compartment. A gloomy looking boy and a red haired girl. They were deep in conversation about something. I ignored them and continued talking to the other three.

"Slytherin?" I heard the girl ask.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" I asked Sirius.

He didn't share the same grin as I had on my face. "My whole family have been in Slytherin."

"Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right."

Sirius grinned at me. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

I lifted an imaginary sword and started to wield it in the air. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."

The dark boy snorted.

I turned to him. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," he replied. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius interjected.

I started to laugh, earning a glare from the red head.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment." she said, taking the boy's hand.

"See ya, Snivellus!" Sirius shouted after them.

This caused Remus, Peter, and I to roar with laughter.

"Nice one, Sirius!" I gave him a high five.

"Don't you think that was a bit mean?" Peter asked.

Sirius shrugged, leaning back in the seat. "Mean? He wants to be a Slytherin. I personally think I was being too nice. What do you think, Remmy?"

"Don't call me that." Remus said. "I think I will stay neutral in this discussion."

I clutched my heart, leaning back into Sirius. "Don't tell us that you are planning on being a Slytherin!"

"I'm not. I plan on being in Ravenclaw."

"Good, now we know who will can do our homework." Sirius teased.

"Or maybe you could do it yourselves?" suggested Remus. "But you two seem more like the people who would slack off in class. So I'm seeing...a failure in your future!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe he's not as smart as we think he is." I tell Sirius. "If he isn't going to show us how smart he is, then he must be stupid."

"I second that. He must indeed be stupid." He agreed with a nod.

"Perhaps you two are the stupid ones for thinking that I would fall for that challenge."

And so began our friendship.


	3. Chapter 2: The Sorting

Chapter 2: The Sorting

"First years! First years! Follow me!" shouted a large booming voice. This large voice came from a large man. A very large man in fact. He had to have at least a little bit of giant in him. My head reached half way up his thigh, and I was tall for my age!

"What in the world are you?" Remus asks him.

"I'm Hargid. Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." the man said. "And who might ye be?"

"James Potter." I introduced myself.

"Ye wouldn't be Charlus and Olivia's child would ya?" Hagrid asks me.

"The very same." I said.

He grins at me. "I used to be in Gryffindor with 'em. Ye must come have some tea with me sometime."

"Sounds like fun." I said. "Oh, I forgot. These other three gits are Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."

"You lot seem like a bunch of trouble."

Sirius just smiles. "I wouldn't say trouble. Mischeif maybe. But never trouble."

"All right, First Years, follow me to the boats." Hagrid said.

We all followed him to the boats. On the way to the docks, Sirius and I thought it would be fun to push each other off of the path. We both succeeded several times. Then we ran into none other than Snivellus.

"Watch it, baffoons!" he snaps at us.

"Ugh, Sirius! I think I'm dying! My arm seems to be covered in greasy from his slimy hair! Save me, Sirius, save me!" I put a hand to my forehead and acted as if I was about to faint.

Sirius caught me. "I've got you James. I've got you. Now we just need to try to wash it off. It might take years. I have never seen anything that greasy before."

We both started laughing.

"Why don't you two go pick on someone else?" the girl from the train asked.

"Still sticking up from Snivellus?" Sirius asks her. "I think he can handle a bit of teasing."

"Just ignore them, Severus. They are nothing but a bunch of-"

Hagrid cuts her off. "Enough, enough. No more fightin', ya hear?"

"Yes, Hagrid." we all say.

We climbed into the boats. Hagrid had one all to himself. Even then did the boat sort of float low because of all of the weight. Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I had a boat to ourselves. Once again, Sirius and I started to mess with each other. We dipped water out of the lake and splashed one another. Remus had joined in on our fun. Peter just sat there, playing with his hands nervously.

The boats stopped right in front of the castle. A brunette woman in a long purple robe stood there waiting for us. A pair of thin wired glasses were pushed up to the top of her head. In her right hand, was a scroll that had all of our names on it.

"If you would follow me, I shall show you to the Great Hall where you will be sorted into the Houses." she told us. Then she turned on her heels and sped off.

We had to jog to keep up with the speed she was going. Poor Peter couldn't handle the jogging. He tripped. Automatically, I helped him up.

"Excuse me, miss, can we go at a slower pace?" Remus asked her.

She turns to see the three of us helping Peter up. "All right."

We continue again, this time at a walking pace. She stops us at large wooden doors. I had no doubt that behind these doors was the Great Hall. I wasn't nervous about being sorted. There was one small doubt in my mind. It kept whispering to me- what if you get in Slytherin. I quickly shook it out of my head.

The doors opened. Thousands of people turned to stare at us as we walked towards the front of the room. Floating candles were above our heads. They floated underneath a starry sky. It was just a spell, is what Remus told us. We continued all the way to the front. When we stopped we found ourselves in front of a stool with an old hat on it. As soon as we stood in front of it, the hat started to sing:

_A thousand years or more ago  
_

_when I was newly sewn,  
_

_there lived four wizards of renown,  
_

_whose names are still well known:  
_

_bold __Gryffindor__, from wild moor,  
_

_fair __Ravenclaw__, from glen,  
_

_sweet __Hufflepuff__, from valley broad,  
_

_shrewd __Slytherin__, from fen.  
_

_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,  
_

_they hatched a daring plan  
_

_to educate young sorcerers  
_

_thus __Hogwarts School__ began.  
_

_Now each of these __four founders__  
_

_formed their own __house__, for each  
_

_did value different virtues  
_

_in the ones they had to teach.  
_

_By __Gryffindor__, the bravest were  
_

_Prized far beyond the rest;  
_

_For __Ravenclaw__, the cleverest  
_

_would always be the best;  
_

_For __Hufflepuff__, hard workers were  
_

_Most worthy of __admission__;  
_

_And power-hungry __Slytherin__  
_

_loved those of great ambition.  
_

_While still alive they did divide  
_

_Their favorites from the throng,  
_

_Yet how to pick the worthy ones  
_

_When they were dead and gone?_

'Twas _Gryffindor__ who found the way,  
_

_He whipped me off his head  
_

_The founders put some brains in me  
_

_So I could choose instead!  
_

_Now slip me snug about your ears,  
_

_I've never yet been wrong,  
_

_I'll have a look inside your mind  
_

_And tell where you belong!_

"I shall begin calling you out to be sorted." the brunnette woman said. "Black, Sirius."

Sirius walked forward. He turned back to give me a wink. I gave him a thumbs up in return. He sat down on the stool. After a while, the hat finally came to a conclusion.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted.

"Yes!" Sirius said, grinning. He passed me as he walked to the Gryffindor table. "Better be a Gryffindor, Potter."

She called out a few other names. None really stood out though. Two went to Ravenclaw. Another one went to Gryffindor. Three went to Slytherin. One went to Hufflepuff. Then one name stood out. "Evans, Lilly."

Up walks a thin red head. It was the girl from the train!

"How much do you want to bet that she's going to Slytherin like her precious Snivellus wants to go?" I asked my two remaining friends.

Remus chuckled. "One gallon, your on. I think she'll be a Hufflepuff."

To our dismay, the hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!"

More names had passed until they called out Remus. He was sorted into Gryffindor. Later on, Peter was sorted into Gryffindor as well. I was one of the last one's to be called. As was Snivellus.

"Potter, James."

I walked up, sitting down on the stool.

'Ah, a brave one I see. Kind as well. There is trouble in you. A lot of trouble in your future as well. Two houses would be best, for there are two paths that your future could have. Slytherin would love to have you.-

NO! I can't be a Slytherin.

-'but I think I know where you belong.'

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouts.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter start cheering. I make my way to sit next to them. As I sit down, Snivellus is called. As he wished, he was sorted into Slytherin. He gave one longing look at Lilly before heading towards the rest of the Slytherins.


End file.
